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MEMBER DIARY

Washington State GOP Post-Election Update

WSRP Chair, Luke Esser, recently sent an update on the outcome of the election. Washington Republicans fared quite well, actually, considering it was a blue tidal wave year. An excerpt.

1) We increased the number of Republicans in the State Senate for the first time since 2002.

2) We increased the number of Republicans in the State House for the first time since 1994.

3) While Idaho lost an incumbent Republican Member of Congress, our state re-elected all three of our Republican Members of Congress and Congressman Dave Reichert was re-elected by his largest margin ever.

4) After electing a new Republican County Commissioner in Clark County, Republicans now hold a majority on the Clark County Board of Commissioners for the first time in more than 30 years.

5) Republicans now control the legislative branch in three of the five largest counties in the state (Pierce, Spokane and Clark).*

Upcoming in 2009 are various local elections. I think the fact that we had some Republicans able to buck the trend this year shows that Republicans can win. We need dynamite candidates and a focused, cohesive message. Over-confident opponents wouldn’t hurt, either.

*The remaining two counties would be King and Snohomish. Currently, Dems hold 4 of 5 seats on the SnoCo Council. Enough will be up for reelection in 2009 for Republicans to gain control, but SnoCo GOP leadership is unsure whether we will have the resources to mount strong challenges for all of the seats up for reelection.